[Excerpts from Dec. 27 EPA Press Release]
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in conjunction with the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and Transportation, have strengthened their commitment to achieve the goal of no net loss of our Nation’s wetlands with the release of a comprehensive action plan and improved guidance to ensure effective, scientifically-based restoration of wetlands impacted by development activities.

The Corps’ regulatory guidance and the multi-agency action plan will help advance technical capabilities for wetlands restoration and protection, as well as clarify policies to ensure ecologically sound, predictable, and enforceable wetlands restoration completed as part of Clean Water Act and related programs. Both actions are the result of extensive multi-agency collaboration.

The National Wetlands Mitigation Action Plan lists 17 action items that the agencies will undertake to improve the effectiveness of restoring wetlands that are impacted or lost to activities governed by clean water laws. A revised Corps Regulatory Guidance Letter leads the list of action items. In order to advance the goal of no net loss of wetlands, the guidance letter emphasizes the following:

• A watershed-wide approach to prospective mitigation efforts for proposed projects impacting wetlands and other waters
• The increased use of functional assessment tools; and
• Improved performance standards

Dec 27, 2002 Full Release
Action Plan, Guidance Letter, and related materials
Jan 10, 2003 Press Release on Jurisdictional Issues
Jan 10, 2003 Press Release on Proposed Rulemaking
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (PDF 139K)

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